2011 Assen TT MotoGP: FP2 Canceled

Due to heavy rains and oil on one-third of the Assen TT Circuit, all Free Practice 2 sessions were canceled across the MotoGP classes.

This was due to many wrecks occurring during the first Moto2 practice session in the morning; during Moto2 FP1, Alex Baldolini crashed, and upon re-entering the track, the Italian left a trail of oil on a third of the Assen TT circuiot.

While cleanup trucks scrubbed the track for two hours, riders were prevented from getting on the track. Upon finishing the cleanup, heavy downpours began, and Assen officials canceled the FP2 sessions for MotoGP, Moto2 and 125cc classes.

To redeem this lost time, each class will have an extended practice session Friday before qualifying; the MotoGP class will be on the track at 9:50 local time for an hour and a half practice session before qualifying. The sub-classes will also have extra free practice time.

Due to the cancellation, this leaves San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli as the faster MotoGP rider on Thursday; the Italian beat out his fellow countryman Valentino Rossi by 0.360 of a second; Rossi is competing on the Ducati GP11.1, an updated version of the MotoGP prototype.

Rounding out the top five were current leader Casey Stoner (Respol Honda), Stoner’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso, and the reigning MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing).